Anyone else feel like it’s the Wild Wild West?


I’ve been following the streaming threads here for a while now, and I find it both exhilarating and intimidating.  I mean, we all know everything in high-end audio matters to some degree or another, right (Ok, maybe except for the flat earth contingent)?  From what I’m reading and from my own experience the process of optimizing steaming has near unlimited potential, and some even say it rivals or even surpasses vinyl if taken to the max.  Cables, routers, optical, filters, extenders, power supplies, switches, etc., they all seem to make a significant difference despite the naysayers who say bits are just bits.  I’m all in on this steaming renaissance, but most of the jewels of useful info are buried in other posts, so I’d like to have this be a consolidator post of your best streaming experiences and recommendations for others who could benefit greatly from your hard-won victories and maybe save a lot of people the agony you went through to get to streaming nirvana.  So have at it — let’s empower this community in this noble task and help everyone realize the amazing potential of this magic gift to audiophiles.  What say you?

soix

holmz...a fair retort, indeed.  We married late, Mary and I, and a close friend gave us a book depicting photos of people around the world placing the entire contents of their possessions in front of their dwellings, as a wedding present.  We indeed are abundantly wealthy within that context.  Further, as members of the Baha'i Faith with tenets of justice, fairness and equity, we consider ourselves global citizens.  

ON that note, The Cable Company just completed their 27th year of contributing to Summer Against Hunger, another reason for my personal choice.  My deeper point was the abundance of obvious added stressors today for kids, families, friends and our leaders.  The importance of music and the arts in helping us maintain our mental balance, for ourselves and for others. 

I work Customer Service for a longtime outdoor outfitter and my wife is a language arts teacher.  My audio budget is extremely limited and away from our family needs, which should speak to just how important music is to me.  The top tier of TIDAL streaming with a military discount is $12.65 monthly, a huge savings, considering how we accessed music over the years.  The enormous value streaming poses for those on a limited budget is what prompted me to respond in depth to the topic. 

Digital cable swaps are controversial, so I thought I'd share some of that experience towards the topic as well.  Elaborating was simply sharing in our hobby experiences, not sounding boastful, I hope.  

Having an "Audio Tech" assist might sound a bit rich, however, Mike has become a personal friend and we barter goods for services.  I bring it up in here because of the low-cost of streaming from a computer for those on a limited budget.  Many of our Peers are older, and like me, may not be tech savvy.  Seek help maybe from your computer company or local college students.  Almost all the software required is free...add a good DAC and your streaming great sound.

Thanks for the feedback, holmz              More Peace, Pin

I agree @pinthrift that the Cable Company is good way to demo different cables.  But it is not free or even cheap, and of course the incentive is to pick one of the ?few that you demo and use your rental credits.  I did this and ended up picking Audience Au24SX and loved it.  Then my dealer, while delivering my YG speakers pulled out a pair of KS Elation speaker cables.  Time to start all over.  It was educational.  Sometimes feeling bright and tingly was just an absence of great midrange and upper end bass.; Meat on the bone.  Anyway, lots of great cables, I like all good copper, no silver for me.  I think especially true for resolving SS gear (copper).  I would take any dealer up on demoing their cables.. I am scared to try the Nordost good stuff...I might like it!

 

I agree @pinthrift that the Cable Company is good way to demo different cables.

Sorry, but I disagree unless you can’t find the cable you’re looking for on the used market. The discount on used cables is 50% or more, they cost very little to ship, and if they don’t work out just sell them for little/no loss and you can try as many as you like this way. In this regard paying The Cable Company to try different cables and then pay full price for cables is kinda nuts, again unless you’re looking for something that’s just not available on the used market. Then there are several excellent cable companies that sell direct and offer excellent quality and value and generous trial periods to see if they work in your system. Just my $0.02 FWIW.